I remember the day when H&R Block Interviews were scheduled on the campus and all of us were excited and nervous to face the interviews. It was the first interview in MBA life, I was facing after I was mocked down by companies in an Engineering career. This increased the fear and nervousness within me, questioning myself as would I be selected or again I would be denied. But the positivity within me retained my hopes.
"It's Not Whether You Get Knocked Down, It's Whether You Get Up."
―Vince Lombardi
Soon, the interviews started and results were announced, landing me into an internship opportunity with H&R Block, India. An internship offer from company lighted up my ways towards an entire diverse world of the Finance sector and exploring Pune as a historical place.
The internship started with great enthusiasm of learning tax calculations, situations and enjoining towards financial planning. Hemant Sir taught the rules and regulations, procedures to be followed while calculating tax and Aishwarya Ma'am taught the ways to communicate with the client and understand their nervousness, fear for Income Tax Returns filing.
Moving on-board into the operations block, I was awaited by a client calling as my first assignment towards my internship. This task not only helped me to face the difficulties in professional life as how to communicate with the client and convince them with our points, but also helped me in personal life, knowing how to start the conversation. The conversion rate of clients was high and opened up an opportunity for me to move into live client experience to compute their taxes and file the ITR, from amongst 30 students. Hence I believe in, "A Yes Always Opens Door To The Aspiring Opportunities."
The second step of the ladder towards completing an internship was to start filing the ITR Returns. Each tax situation challenged me in its own ways and pushed me towards learning the treatment of each fundamental word of taxation. Being from an engineering background, it was difficult for me to settle down calmly with the financial tacts and terms, that too, of taxation. But this didn't refrained me from learning them and instead I was wondered towards moulding myself to the ways of financial planning to save taxes.
“It’s only after you’ve stepped outside your comfort zone that you begin to change, grow, and transform.”
― Roy T. Bennett
The joy of filing 100 ITRs felt as if I scored a century, making a difference to the country's economy. Climbing up the ladder, I was unveiled to a variety of clients, who wanted to save their taxes by anyway, they could find, and enforced me to convey the difference between being right and being legally right. This improved my convincing power and enabled me to believe that an individual can also bring change, no matter how small the change is.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
― Margaret Mead
The internship taught me that 'mood swings' is just an ordinary word and has no resemblance while working in the corporates, especially while talking with the clients. Each day brought about a new change in me, both in my personal and professional life, creating memories with new friends and warmly welcoming the transformation. Although being a die-hard Mumbaikar, I was fascinated by the charm that Punekars carry with them. This was the first time, I explored Pune with my friends, roaming through the beauty of Vetal Tekdi to the markets of Pune to the historical places, the city had to offer to us.
I was fortunate enough to taste every management field through this internship, right from Finance to Marketing to Operations, all thanks to Universal Business School, for providing me with the opportunity of internship and H&R Block India to believe in my work.